Discrimination Suit Settled in P.G.

Prince George's County has agreed to pay $21,000 to a Hillcrest man who filed a race discrimination suit against the country two years ago. The out-of-court agreement was reached last week.

William Bailey, 36, of 31303 Good Hope Ave., filed a suit against the county in June 1976, charging the he applied for six county jobs in 1972 and 1973, but was not hired because of his race. Bailey is black.

Bailey has been employed for the last eight months at the Interstate Commerce Commission. He said last week that he was not satisfied with the settlement.

"I wanted a job, and I wanted to see some change in the hiring procedures so that this would not happen to other people," Bailey said.

In the suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Bailey had asked that he be hired for the highest-paying job for which he applied and that he be awarded unspecified punitive damages.

Bailey's attorney, Norris Ramsey of Baltimore, said, "The settlement was fair, but in compromises you never get anything you want."

Ramsey said the county payment to Bailey was unusually high for a discrimination case involving only one person. The attorney said he filed a dismissal motion Monday and expected Judge C. Stanley Blair to close the case this week.

Bailey said he worked as a housing agent for the Federation for Cooperative Housing between 1970 and 1972 before applying for a job as a housing inspector with Prince George's County in August 1972.

Bailey was interviewed by housing officials, who rated him on seven criteria, including appearance, emotional stability, presentation of ideas and ability to get along with others, according to court records.

For each criteria, Bailey was given a point rating of between 50 and 100. His ratings were averaged and he was ranked with other applicants, court records said.

Bailey was given a 78.65 rating from the housing inspector interviews and was, ranked 6th among applicants, court records show.

After being turned down for the job, Bailey applied for positions as a community development assistant, liquor inspector, appraiser-trainee, zoning inspector and again as a housing inspector, his suit says.

Bailey said last week that he was interviewed for three of those positions. Finally, he said, a county personnel committee determined he was not suitable for employment because of "lack of proper motivation." He was not interviewed for the last two positions for which he applied, Bailey said.

Prince George's County attorney Jim Chapin declined to comment on the case or the settlement. He said the parties in the case had agreed not to discuss its details.

Bailey said he gave up applying for county jobs in late 1973 and complained to the county Equal Opportunity Office. When the office found no evidence of discrimination, Bailey said, he filed a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, which found evidence of discrimination and tried, unsuccessfully, to mediate between the two parties.

It was at this point, Bailey said, that he filed the suit in U.S. District Court.